UCL to host GCEC conference 2014

The conference – which will be hosted during 2-4th October 2014 – will have as its theme ‘interconnectedness’, particularly within entrepreneurship centres, building on the model developed by UCL Advances of an integrated programme of support for external businesses and students at every stage of development as they launch, grow and expand.

It is anticipated that UCL will partner with Birkbeck College, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), the London Business School and the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) to deliver the conference, which will predominantly be hosted at the Institute of Education (IoE), which has a strategic partnership with UCL.

The conference will feature a variety of plenary sessions, workshops, breakout discussions and keynote speeches from UCL staff as well as external speakers. An app, specifically designed for use at the conference, will be produced in advance to enable delegates to optimise their participation over the three days in London.

The GCEC – formerly the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers – was founded in 1996 to provide a way of coordinated collaboration and communication between university-based entrepreneurship centres on issues which they commonly confront. Its membership now comprises over 200 university entrepreneurship centres worldwide, including UCL.

“It is a real honour for UCL to be the first university outside of the US to host the GCEC conference,” said Gups Jagpal, Deputy Director of UCL Advances. “Not only is it testament to our strength as a centre of entrepreneurship and the support we provide to both the UCL community and external businesses, it will also be a golden opportunity to showcase the exciting tech entrepreneurship scene developing in London right now and burgeoning health and social enterprises, too.”

“Selection of the host campus is a highly competitive process,” added Dr Rebecca White, GCEC Site Selection Chair. “While many excellent schools from around the world applied to host the 2014 conference, we chose UCL and London to be the first host university outside of the US because it will provide GCEC with the opportunity to expand its reach globally."